The Social Nature of Prayer in a Church of the Unchurched

Russian Orthodox Christianity from Its Edges

Bibliographic Data

ID8201639
AuthorsJ Kormina (0000-0001-8447-5625, National Research University Higher School of Economics, corresponding author), Sonja Luehrmann (Simon Fraser University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume86
Issue2
Pages394-424
Publication date2018-05-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfx055
OpenAlexW2770011002
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited71

The Russian Orthodox Church portrays itself as a hierarchically ordered and socially influential “public religion,” but occupies quite a tenuous position in contemporary Russian society. Following Marcel Mauss’s idea of prayer as a social phenomenon, we argue that lay intercessory prayer as a way of assuming social responsibility is key to extending the Church’s reach into the lives of casual believers (so-called zakhozhane). Although individualization of religious practice does occur in post-Soviet Russia, contemporary Russian Orthodox prayer is less about personal self-cultivation than about claiming and exercising competence within interpersonal networks. The notion of prayer as practical competence helps to understand the role of lay prayer in a clerically dominated church, and explains the enduring role of established, mainstream denominations as ambient faith in a secular society.

Casual · Christianity · Faith · Mainstream · Political science · Prayer · Sociology · Theology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Religious Tourism and Spaces